May 16, 2009

BRRRR!

This long holiday weekend is a mix of Mothers Day and Independence Day here in Paraguay. It's a little weird to be having Mothers Day and what equates to the 4th of July all wrapped into one, but it's even weirder for it to be so cold for those holidays! The storms this week have been terrific as far as the water they left behind, but we are quite cold now that they've passed.

The weather changes so quickly here. It was about 97 degrees F Monday, and we were roasting. Then came a night of storms and we woke up to the low 50's. At night it's dipping a good bit lower, and we're learning to layer our clothing in this house with no heat. I am so thankful that we CAN shut our doors and windows, a luxury very few of our neighbors have. The wind is whipping!

I keep reminding myself that in the "good old days," people didn't heat their houses. I keep telling myself that my mom and my Granny probably lived like this too, without the benefit of fleece hoodies. It's not working yet, but I know those thoughts are bound to make me toughen up a bit and survive this winter. That, and a gas stove that we'll bake in whenever possible for the heat benefits. My children won't know what hit them when I go all Betty Crocker on 'em!

I'm looking up patterns right now to sew some fleece pullover hats--there are so many little folks around here with cold ears and buzzed hair. We're thrilled that we've gotten some of the blankets delivered before this cold snap hit, and will be handing out the rest this weekend or coming week, whenever they are made.

We weren't able to take the family pictures I mentioned in a previous post, since it's been raining so much. The rain is a real blessing, so don't take that as a complaint. We are excited about walking around to our neighbor's homes and taking their photos, though, so hopefully that can happen soon.

3 comments:

You´re doing it right Christie. Layering is the trick to surviving the winters here! :) In the daytime it can get pretty warm, but at night it cools off again....so don´t put those blankets away. This is what a Paraguayan winter is like. And not many people have heating, even the richer people... At least I don´t know of anybody here that does. We just open all the windows when it´s warm, so that the warmer wind can enter the house in the daytime's and close everything up at night. I hope you get used it and "survive" well ! :)